Mingo County, West Virginia Biography of LAFE CHAFIN This biography was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: ********************************************** ***The submitter does not have a connection*** ********to the subject of this sketch.******** ********************************************** This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 594 Mingo LAFE CHAFIN, one of the representative attorneys of the younger generation in Mingo County, is engaged in the practice of his profession at Williamson, the county seat, in which city he was born February 1, 1896. He is a son of Rev. James M. and Elizabeth Susan (Bevins) Chafin, the former a native of West Virginia and the latter of Ken- tucky. The father, a clergyman of the Christian Church, was actively interested in public affairs and was specially influential in the movement which led to the creation of Mingo County, after the organization of which he was appointed the first clerk of the County Court. In 1913 Lafe Chafin graduated from the Williamson High School, and he then entered Washington and Lee University, where he carried forward his studies in both the literary and law departments, in the latter of which he was graduated in 1917, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Almost immediately after his graduation he found the call of patriotism greater than immediate professional ambition, for in July, 1917, he enlisted for service in the World war. He passed three months at Fort Benjamin Harrison, In- diana, where he received commission as second lieutenant and was assigned to the Forty-fifth United States Infantry. With his command he was transferred to Camp Taylor, Kentucky, later to Camp Gordon, Georgia, and thence to Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Alabama, where his regiment received orders for overseas service. The command pro- ceeded to Camp Mills, New York, and soon afterward sailed from the port of the national metropolis. When the trans- port was two days out it received orders to return, owing to the signing of the historic armistice. Mr. Chafin and his comrades landed at Hoboken, New Jersey, November 14, 1918, and then returned to Camp Mills. After a brief stop at Camp Sheridan, Alabama, Mr. Chafin's regiment returned to Camp Gordon, Georgia, where it was assigned service in connection with demobilization. He there received his honorable discharge in September, 1919, and upon his return to Williamson he entered the law office of B. Randolph Bias. In March, 1920, he was admitted to the bar of his native state, at Charleston, and then became associated with Mr. Bias in practice. On the 1st of January, 1922, Mr. Bias, one of the leading members of the bar of the state, admitted him to professional partnership, under the firm name of Bias & Chafin, and thus he initiates the practice of his profession under most favorable auspices, while his admis- sion to this partnership betokens alike his sterling character and professional ability. The firm is retained as counsel for the Coal Operators Association, and its practice is thus largely of corporation order. Mr. Chafin is a member of the Mingo County Bar Association and the West Virginia Bar Association, is affiliated with the American Legion, the Alpha Chi Rho college fraternity and the Masonic frater- nity, and in the Masonic fraternity he has membership in the local Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the York Rite and the Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Wheeling. He is a democrat is political allegiance, and he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian Church. In New York City, in 1918, Mr. Chafin wedded Miss Gladys Claire Pierce, daughter of W. Frank and Clara (Miller) Pierce, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, where Mr. Pierce is engaged in the timber and lumber business. . Mr. and Mrs. Chafin are popular figures in the representative social activities of their home city.